Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Aug 30: Overwhelmed with the Congress decision of sending the Party’s Policy Planning Group to the J&K next month, senior Congress leader and former minister Tariq Hameed Karra has said that it was a matter of satisfaction that his efforts have finally began yielding results.
In a press statement here today, Karra said that for this initiative he is indebted to AICC chief Sonia Gandhi, vice president, Rahul Gandi, head of the Group and former Prime Minister Dr Manhmohan Singh, P. Chidambaram, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Dr Karan Singh and Ambika Soni.
Congress’s Policy Planning Group on Kashmir is scheduled to visit Jammu and Kashmir next month for discussions on current situation in the State with different sections of the society, party workers and opposition parties. The group would be headed by former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.
Karra said that the finalization of dates for the team’s arrival was a welcome step and hoped the move would help in assessing the ground situation in a better way. The team would visit Jammu on September 10 and Kashmir about six days later on September 16. Karra who has been instrumental in the constitution of the Policy Planning Group said that during his frequent interactions with the senior party leaders in New Delhi including president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi, he has been insisting on such endeavors so that not only the ground situation is understood in a better way but also the people of Jammu and Kashmir are given a sense of belonging.
He said that sending the team to Kashmir was also significant because BJP Government has shut the doors for negotiation and has left no room for any kind of outreach therefore, Congress endeavor is worth appreciation. He further said that it is an attempt of ‘handholding’ from the Congress party and imbibing sense of self of confidence in the people of Jammu and Kashmir. He added that Kashmiris have been marginalized with divisive politics of PDP- BJP combine and reaching out to them in the time of distress was indeed a much needed step.
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